Most shutters which are now used with homes serve only an ornamental function. As such, most of these are formed by injection molding using colored plastic to permit formation of a plastic shutter which does not rot and generally does not require painting. Distributors simply stock shutters of different colors so that he can supply them to their customers.
In addition to a variety of a number of different colors, there are also a number of different sizes. Windows come in many different lengths and as such the shutter must correspond in size to the length of the window. Thus, the distributor must not only stock different colors but must stock different sizes, frequently ten to fifteen different sizes. The problem created by this is quite obvious. The stocking requirements are prohibitive for many distributors.
To overcome this problem, plastic shutters have been formed which can be adjusted in size. Several of these are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,152,116, 4,765,110, 3,455,079 and 4,251,966.
The problem with each of these designs is that the adjustment is too complex. Generally, the adjustment must be made by the distributor as opposed to the end user due to the complexity of the adjustment. Precise cuts are required plus assembly using various fasteners, plastic rivets and the like. This is totally unacceptable if one wishes to adjust the size of the shutter at the job site. Further, due to the large number of separate components, these shutters rattle and can easily fall apart.